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Thread: About to do the Cooling Overhaul

  1. #1
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    About to do the Cooling Overhaul

    Have Water Pump Pulley, Stewart Pump, Mishimoto Radiator, upper lower and over flow hoses, Temp switch, Fan nut, 2 bottles water wetter, new expansion tank.

    is there anything else I need hardware related? Ive been reading all I can about this install but if you guys have any tips you can offer (both small and big tips) then I would really appreciate it. Tell me about your experience (Time, labor, issues etc) Thanks guys!

  2. #2
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    I found Robin's posts very helpful. I contributed a few photos as well.

    http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1196454

    Are you going to change the thermostat and t-stat cover as well? How's your fan clutch?

    I did this on my 97 M52 as well and all in all it was pretty straightforward but took the better part of a day. The coolant draining process is very messy and it is kinda frustrating feeding the hoses through the fan shroud. It was also a bit difficult to secure the hose clamps near the top of the radiator in that you had to orient the screws a certain way to get good access to them. Be very patient and compulsive about the bleeding process.
    Kelvin

  3. #3
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    Aluminum thermostat housing, thermostat.

  4. #4
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    New hose clamps.
    It's a Hybrid--Burns Gas and Rubber

  5. #5
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    Heater hoses. Throttle body hoses. And for post completeness, the plastic heater pipes on the engines that have them. The M52 has none.


    Oh, and chuck the water wetter.


    /.randy

  6. #6
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    I always like to share this video on bleeding the system. Not mine, but I used it when I did my cooling system.

    http://youtu.be/zxBQJULAhMI

  7. #7
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    Have the aluminum cover and a new t stat. Doing the fan delete while im in there.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by rf900rkw View Post
    Oh, and chuck the water wetter.
    What's wrong with water wetter?

    If you're running antifreeze (glycol), be sure to use the diesel water wetter so you don't get globs.
    Otherwise, water wetter is good stuff.

  9. #9
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    I haven't done the coolant system overhaul on my '01 Z3M Coupe yet, but I did do it on my '01 530i a couple of years ago (which has the M54 i6). A couple of things you should consider looking at replacing while you have the front end all taken apart.

    1. Replace the fan. You're already taking it out and the plastic fan is a wear part. As they get old the plastic gets brittle and the risk of a fan detonation under your hood increases.
    2. Replace your belts. You have to take them off to get to the water pump. They are much cheaper on the interwebs rather than having to make a run to the parts department at your local BMW dealer.
    3. Check your belt tensioners... My 530i was a March of '01 build and they went later to hydraulic belt tensioners. You couldn't get the old part numbers so I had to convert mine. It wasn't hard/expensive.
    4. Check the bearings on all of your belt pulleys...they should all spin freely and be glass smooth. Any resistance and/or roughness would indicate bearings starting to fail. I didn't replace mine, only to have a tensioner pulley fail a couple of months later. It would have been easy to do at the same time as the coolant system.
    5. Is your power steering pump reservoir or power steering pump hoses leaking? If they are this is a good time to replace them as well. If you do the hoses, replace the reservoir too...it has a built in filter that gets clogged up eventually and is considered a wear part.
    6. Depending on mileage (if you're over 110k) you might have a little oil leaking from the oil filter housing gasket between the oil filter housing and the engine block. I just did mine on my 530i last weekend. During a coolant system replacement would be a perfect time to do it as well as you're doubling up on a lot of the labor just to get to it. It's more common problem on the M54 rather than M52 engines, but it's a $4 gasket and $400 labor to do it in a shop any way that you go.

    Good luck.

  10. #10
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    Good in what way? The original intent of water wetter was to be a corrosion inhibitor and lubricant. The "better cooling" crap was added marketing to expand the customer base beyond those of us racing in classes where antifreeze is banned. As but one example, the accepted gods of BMW water pumps, Stewart, calls BS. Though I don't agree with every sentence, there is some very good debunking info in their Tech_Tips. Number 4 applies here.


    /.randy

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by rf900rkw View Post
    Good in what way? The original intent of water wetter was to be a corrosion inhibitor and lubricant. The "better cooling" crap was added marketing to expand the customer base beyond those of us racing in classes where antifreeze is banned. As but one example, the accepted gods of BMW water pumps, Stewart, calls BS. Though I don't agree with every sentence, there is some very good debunking info in their Tech_Tips. Number 4 applies here.
    From #4 on Stewart's site:

    UNEQUIVOCALLY WATER IS THE BEST COOLANT! We recommend using a corrosion inhibitor comparable to Prestone Super Anti-Rust when using pure water. If freezing is a concern, use the minimum amount of antifreeze required for your climate.

    Water wetter is a corrosion inhibitor and lubricant.
    You should use the minimum amount of antifreeze for your climate, this amount may not be enough to properly protect and lubricate your engine, so additional additives are neccessary.
    Last edited by Gofast; 06-25-2013 at 05:31 PM.

  12. #12
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    If you are running so little antifreeze that additional anti-corrision is needed, by all means. I was using the crystal version in 1990s in SCCA racing. Just don't suck into all the "lower your temperature" crap. BTW, the diesel version as recommended specificly lacks the corrosion inhibitors.


    /.randy

  13. #13
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    [QUOTE=rf900rkw;26544308]Heater hoses. Throttle body hoses. And for post completeness, the plastic heater pipes on the engines that have them. The M52 has none.

    My 1998 Z3 2.8L has the M52 engine. I was told the coolant pipes from the heater core are made of composet/plastic, and to be very careful or I would break them. Is that true?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_Z3_(E36/4)

    Production September 20, 1995–June 28, 2002[1]
    Assembly Greer, South Carolina, United States(BMW US Mfg. Comp.)
    Predecessor BMW Z1
    Successor BMW Z4
    Class Roadster
    Body style 2-door convertible
    2-door coupé
    Layout FR layout
    Engine 1.8 L M43B18 I4
    1.9 L M44B19 I4
    2.0 L M52B20 T I6
    2.2 L M54B22 I6
    2.8 L M52B28 I6
    3.2 L S52B32 I6 (NA only)
    3.2 L S50B32 I6 (non-NA)
    2.5 L M52TUB25 I6
    2.5 L M54B25 I6
    3.0 L M54B30 I6
    3.2 L S54B32 I6
    Transmission 4-speed automatic
    5-speed manual
    Wheelbase 96.3 in (2,446 mm)
    Length 158.5 in (4,026 mm)
    Width 1996-98: 66.6 in (1,692 mm)
    1999-2002: 68.5 in (1,740 mm)
    Height 1996-98: 50.7 in (1,288 mm)
    1999-2002 Roadster: 50.9 in (1,293 mm)
    Coupe: 51.4 in (1,306 mm)
    Curb weight 2,590–3,186 lb (1,170–1,445 kg)
    Related BMW 3 Series (E36)
    Duesen Bayern Mystar[2]
    Duesen Bayern Agnes[3]
    Designer(s) Joji Nagashima (1993)

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Nighthawk399 View Post
    Have Water Pump Pulley, Stewart Pump, Mishimoto Radiator, upper lower and over flow hoses, Temp switch, Fan nut, 2 bottles water wetter, new expansion tank.

    is there anything else I need hardware related? Ive been reading all I can about this install but if you guys have any tips you can offer (both small and big tips) then I would really appreciate it. Tell me about your experience (Time, labor, issues etc) Thanks guys!

    This is what I bought for my Z3 from BMP Design

    YOU BOUGHT:
    +------+--------------------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
    | Qty | Product Name (Part Number) | Unit | Discount | Price Ea. | Total |
    | | | Price | Ea. | | |
    +------+--------------------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
    | 1 | Engine and Heater Hose Kit | $112.58 | $11.26 | $101.32 | $101.32 |
    | | (175269) | | | | |
    +------+--------------------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
    | 1 | Standard 92C Thermostat w/ | $28.21 | $2.82 | $25.39 | $25.39 |
    | | O-ring (54445) | | | | |
    +------+--------------------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
    | 1 | Metal Impeller Water Pump | $89.95 | $9.00 | $80.95 | $80.95 |
    | | with Upgraded Aluminum | | | | |
    | | Pulley (77619) | | | | |
    +------+--------------------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
    | 1 | Aluminum Thermostat Housing | $19.95 | $4.00 | $15.95 | $15.95 |
    | | (138568) | | | | |
    +------+--------------------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
    | 1 | Replacement Water Manifold | $1.91 | $0.19 | $1.72 | $1.72 |
    | | Gasket (138398) | | | | |
    +------+--------------------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+

    SubTotal: 252.60
    Sales Tax: 0.00
    Shipping: 0.00
    Grand Total: 225.33

  14. #14
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    The pipes through the firewall on the car I just did were aluminum. According to ETK, these pipes are the same for all A/C equipped cars. That doesn't mean there isn't yet more plastic up behind the dash, so you still need to be careful.

    I suppose a *real* cooling system overhaul would include the heater core....


    /.randy

  15. #15
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    Brass coolant bleeder screw(bolt)

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by robb1887 View Post
    Brass coolant bleeder screw(bolt)
    I'd also add this to the list. They add a little piece of mind knowing your not going to crack the bleeder screw down the road.

  17. #17
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    Dont care about A/C and was actually thinking about removing it


    and thanks ordering the bleeder screw

  18. #18
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    Finally, do yourself a favor and get one of these:


  19. #19
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    To bleed the cooling system, especially after a total drain, is pretty much as shown in the video above. No magic, just simple squeezing the hose until the air is out. There are three things in the video that need changed.

    1> ignore the bleeder . Do not open it while the cap is off, as removing the cap does exactly the same thing without the mess. The passage he points to inside the cap area right after closing the bleeder is the bleeder passage.

    2> Do not start the engine. Squeeze the hoses until you have coolant shooting through the bleeder port. Once you have as much coolant in the system as you can get, start the engine and continue to squeeze.

    3> Ignore his ideas of air trapped in the heater. The thermostat has no control of heater flow. The last bit of air that finally purges when the stat opens is air that was trapped in the top of the head. Up around the combustion chamber; the most critical point to keep cool. This is why I think the TIS instructions (start and run at 4K RPM) is criminally wrong. There should be no load placed on the engine until you are *sure* the air is purged.

    The whole process takes maybe five minutes. A simple process to acheive a specific goal by using rather than fighting physics.


    /.randy

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by rf900rkw View Post
    This is why I think the TIS instructions (start and run at 4K RPM) is criminally wrong. There should be no load placed on the engine until you are *sure* the air is purged.
    The TIS instructions ask for 4K rpm because the water pump is developing very little ΔP at idle, not enough to properly bleed the system.
    There is very little load on an out-of-gear engine, even at moderate revs; this is why many race teams rev their engines immediately after starting to get the fluids moving.

  21. #21
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    I am not going to counter the nitpicking any more. The point of all this is you can go about the bleeding the cooling sytem one of two ways. You can totally bleed the cold system before the engine is started and only have a minor top up to do after the first cycle. Or you can use the oft recommended way of using the running engine to try and purge the air. The results of the later are all over the forums. Boilovers on initial fill, running hot and having to rebleed on the side of the road. Recommendations of rebleeding every day for a week Could you imagine me telling a customer they had to come by for a rebleed every day? Or telling them I have to keep the car overnight because it overheated the first bleed attempt? Fix it, fix it right, and done.


    /.randy

  22. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by rf900rkw View Post
    I am not going to counter the nitpicking any more.
    I apologize, not trying to nitpick. There is definitely more than one way to skin a cat, and we're all here trying to provide helpful input.

  23. #23
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    Sorry, "nitpick" was a poor choice of words.

    Onward we go.


    /.randy

  24. #24
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    Funny. You guys call it nit picking. I find it educational.

    -Todd

  25. #25
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    I drew a sample from the bottom of my coolant reservoir and found pieces of the hoses that have been on the car 15 years. The previous owner did change one hose and one belt.

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